Why Vote for Slade?

He’s a proactive leader who cares deeply about our whole community and has the experience to get the job done.

The Sheriff’s office needs to be more proactive and less reactive. Pre planning and training for critical incidents and natural disasters will allow us to be ready and equipped to respond rapidly.

Being proactive means using result-oriented behavior, rather than being reactionary. I believe we need to be proactive not reactive when it comes to staffing, planning for emergency response and natural disasters, and involve the community in training for active threats and how to respond to them to keep Teton County safe.

I want this community to have a voice in how the Sheriff’s office can serve it better. I believe the community voice will be amplified if we bring officers who have moved out of Teton County back so that they live among the people they serve and get deputies out of the office and out of their cars to establish better relationships with the people in this community. I understand the housing problem that many of the first responders face and my goal is to get more of them living in the valley.

My goal is to involve the community more in how the Sheriff’s office operates and use the help of the people in this community to set and define goals for the future, help solve crimes and make Teton County more resistant to crime and natural disasters and resilient in our response.

Enforcing the law is only part of what we do. We are more public servants than law enforcement.

Being born and raised here, I have a lot of family roots here and care for this community. I know first hand what it is like to be a kid in Teton County and a parent worried about the safety of my kids. I know the geography and demographics of our neighborhoods and the unique challenges that the Sheriff’s office has had serving them.

I believe helping new residents integrate with the old time residents will help create unity. My goal is to build upon the relationships I have now and establish new relationships so that people can see that deputies are not just here to write tickets. I want to make the Sheriff’s office more transparent so the community understands what we do.

Unity within the Sheriff’s office requires more continuity of operations because right now there is not an “owners manual” for the Sheriff’s office. The trial-and-error methods in place expose the Sheriff’s office to a huge liability if a Sheriff without sufficient experience is elected.

I have worked at the Sheriff’s office for 19 years and held leadership positions in almost every area of operation. The institutional knowledge I gained helps me truly understand the complexities of the organization and all its functions, and how best to allocate resources.

I have developed good working relationships with all of the Sheriff’s office partners from the national parks and the National Elk Refuge, to the Forest Service, Fire/EMS, St. John’s Hospital, the FBI, DCI, ICE, Teton County Prosecutor’s office, the public defenders, and the local counseling centers and nonprofit organizations.

Working in the private sector for Wyoming Landscaping in the last year has helped give me a better understanding of the community needs from a business perspective. I have built strong relationships with local businesses and have come to understand the concerns they have about safety, and their desire to be a part of the solution.

I know the grant writing system and am willing to pursue grants to implement solutions and defer the cost away from local taxpayers.